Police Beat items are compiled from public information contained in Los Alamos Police Department records.
Charges or citations listed in the Police Beat do not imply guilt or non-guilt. The Los Alamos Police Department uses the term “arrest” to define anyone who has been physically arrested, served a court summons or issued a citation.

October 11
4:52 p.m. – Police received a report of a dog biting another dog in Los Alamos.

5:25 p.m. – A man at the White Rock Visitors Center told police he had been involved in a road rage incident on N.M. 4 with a man in a gray sedan with Colorado plates. The reporting party, whose name was redacted from the police report, said he attempted to pass the gray sedan after following it while it slowed down, swerved and sped up several times.
The reporting party said he believed the driver was studying the forest. When the gray sedan pulled over and stopped, the reporting party said he attempted to pass the vehicle, but the gray sedan took off and passed him. Then the driver in the gray sedan braked hard, and sped up. A few minutes later, however, the reporting party saw the gray sedan pull over and he also pulled over. The two got out of their vehicles and physically confronted each other. The reporting party said he picked up a piece of wood and threw it at the driver of the gray sedan. The other man punched the reporting party, go back in his gray sedan and drove away. The gray sedan’s Colorado plates were reported to dispatch.

October 12
8:07 a.m. – Police arrested Maria Elena Valdez, 34, of Ohkay Owingeh, alleging she was speeding in her vehicle in a school zone near Mountain Elementary.
She was found to have been driving on a suspended license and had two warrants related to misdemeanor charges in another jurisdiction. While attempting to take her into custody, police report that she twisted her arms away. After being handcuffed, she refused to walk on her own, police reported. She was also cited for resisting arrest.

1:45 p.m. – A report was received of three people who appeared suspicious at Smith’s. One of them, Randall Munger, 46, of Albuquerque, had a warrant issued against him from Bernalillo County Metro Court on a charge of shoplifting with a $200 cash bond attached.

11:30 p.m. – Police arrested an individual after they were found to have been driving at a high rate of speed. They were also suspected of being under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.

October 13
6:30 a.m. – Police are investigating an unattended death.
9:45 a.m. – Police were investigating a report of found property.

October 14
11:20 p.m. – Police referred a report of an individual threatening suicide to the District Attorney’s office.

October 15
9:04 p.m. – Police investigated a report of aggravated assault and referred the case to the JPPO.

October 16
7:06 p.m. – Police arrested Monica Cooper, 51, of White Rock, on two bench warrants from Magistrate Court. A person at Cooper’s location asked police to remove Cooper, who was yelling obscenities and making verbal threats. One of the warrants included a $2,600 cash bond, the other warrant carried a $500 cash only bond.